This application relates generally to the ink-jet printing art for ejecting ink droplets on a recording medium such as paper, and more particularly, to the removal of an ink tank cartridge for use in an ink-jet type recording apparatus such as a printer.
In a conventional recording apparatus, ink is supplied to a recording head from an ink tank constructed as a cartridge. The cartridge can be divided into multiple chambers, where a porous foam or material is positioned over an outlet port in a first chamber and free ink is filled into a second chamber. The free ink migrates from its chamber into the foam through an opening providing communication between the two chambers. The foam then controls the flow of ink as it migrates toward the ink outlet port.
As printers become more compact and smaller, many manufacturers are designing printers which have little space available to easily remove the ink cartridges from the printers by hand. Cartridges typically have molded features which engage and disengage with printhead latch mechanisms to remove the cartridge from the printer. An example of a cartridge with a lever which engages a printhead latch is shown in Patent Application No. GB 2 395 684.
The removal features being built into the cartridge and printhead latch make it difficult to remove the cartridge if the features were to break while installing or removing the cartridge from the printhead.
Furthermore, these molded features, often in the form of projecting portions which engage the printhead, are expensive and time-consuming to produce. Thus, it is desirable to develop a new and improved ink cartridge which provides for easier removal of the cartridge from a printer and provides better, more advantageous results.